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The back four seems settled until Williams and Rodwell get up to speed.

Reed is vying with Smallwood and Evans for the 2 defensive midfield roles with the possibility of Rodwell and Rothwell playing there too.

We now have a multitude of options for the '3' in behind the lone striker. It's worth repeating that Mogga sees Bennett as one of those '3' and Dack will be another so it's one from Rothwell, Brereton, AA & Palmer (& Conway & Samuel).

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The experience within the team is also critical to our chances, in that we have older players who not only offer know how and leadership to an otherwise young team, but are key players in their own right.

Mulgrew is our best defender yet is often overlooked or underrated as people (understandably) praise Lenihan, who is also a good defender, but for me Mulgrew is better at this moment, and the perfect man to play alongside. Hopefully playing with Mulgrew will allow Lenihan to improve on the ball as he has been known to misplace dangerous passes, something Mulgrew rarely does. The 2 however are a good partnership.

Graham has been almost universally overlooked in peoples teams due to the exciting signings of Brereton and Armstrong. But for me theres no reason to suggest that Breretons record should indicate automatic selection over Graham, in the short term, whilst unlike Brereton according to Forest fans, Armstrong is just as capable from a wide position as we saw last season. Part of which was down to Graham vacating space for Armstrong to run in behind into.

In midfield, we have players in more attacking roles so its important that the experienced players like Evans and Bennett ensure that they provide the knowhow and the intelligence in there to give us a platform.

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Could well be, hip flexor isn't it? Can be tricky injuries recovery wise and often take longer than expected. I'd be surprised if we see him before mid October now to be honest, there has been no talk of him 'out on the grass' so he must be at least a month away from being able to manage a game situation, few weeks with the U23's to get some contact under him and we're knocking on for early October. We play Bolton away first week in October and then there is an international break. I wouldn't be surprised if the Leeds game is the first we see him available for.

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It seems all of our business is done for the window. That being the case what do people see as our best starting eleven?

My suggestion:

Raya

Nyambe Mulgrew Lenihan Bell

Evans Bennett

Palmer Dack Armstrong

Brereton

Bench: Canadian, Rodwell, Reed, Rothwell, Graham, Davenport, Williams

Very tough to leave out Rothwell after his start but that front 4 is very very solid. I also think Rodwell will force his way into the side as the season goes on.

That team's not far off but Mowbray doesn't like to play 2 attacking wide men up top (he said so himself), one needs to do some donkey work too so I think the team will look slightly different (personally, like you, I'd like to see 2 attacking wide players I just don't think he'll go for it). Here's my take:

Interesting that the defence is almost the same. Midfield now unrecognisable and filled with so much more quality.

The other thing to enjoy is how much more TM is getting from the players he kept. Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan have all improved under him. Even Conway, who gets stick but takes the pressure off the defence coming in towards the end of a tight game, does his job well.

Interesting that the defence is almost the same. Midfield now unrecognisable and filled with so much more quality.

The other thing to enjoy is how much more TM is getting from the players he kept. Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan have all improved under him. Even Conway, who gets stick but takes the pressure off the defence coming in towards the end of a tight game, does his job well.

Oh, and hands up who misses Conor Mahoney?

No wonder we got relegated - look at that midfield. Awful.

Mowbray is a miracle worker no doubt.

Also, he's not been afraid to bring through academy players - something that wasn't happening often enough beforehand. Don't think he gets enough credit for this.